I'm completely new to Maya. I've been usiing it (8.5) for almost 6 weeks now. I've done a total of 3 tutorials, all of which had different menu layouts. However, using the help files, I was able to find them all. Just open your help files, as previously mentioned, and then use the search box. Over time, you'll get used to it.

good luck!

In my opinion, you're better off sticking with 8.5 because some things DO WORK BETTER! One example is the bevel feature. In older versions, there was alot of clean up afterwards (I see it in the tutorials), but with my version, it works like a charm.